GURUGRAM: A stray dog mauled and bit a 14-month-old toddler in DLF-2 on Sunday evening, her father said, raising concern that the authorities were doing little to deal with the problem.
The child has a leg injury and was treated for a bite wound at a private hospital in Gurugram.
“We were going to a nearby market for shopping and without any instigation, a stray dog jumped on us and bit my child on her leg. We rushed to a private hospital as she was bleeding. The problem of stray dogs has become worse here, with people feeding them inside the colonies,” said Nitin Bakshi, the child’s father and resident of DLF-2.
Similar incidents have triggered criticism from residents that MCG is not taking action over the matter.
The DLF Qutab Enclave RWA, the residents’ association for DLF 1 to 5, also wrote to MCG commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja, demanding that the civic body carry out a sterilisation and vaccination drive for stray dogs. “The stray dog issue has been making life difficult for residents... We, in our capacity, are unable to execute the options provided under law without help of the government agency that has powers to do the same," the letter said.
“We have complained to the civic body multiple times but no measures have been taken so far. This has also become a reason of discord among residents wherein one group out of love feed the animals and other wants to protect their loved ones from attacks. While we are trying to resolve the issue amicably between the residents but there is a need for civic authority to take a prompt action before situation gets out of control,” said Dhruv Bansal, spokesperson of the RWA told TOI.
MCG officials said they cannot relocate the dogs to another area as it is against the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. “There is a misconception among the residents that dogs be relocated but we only have the mandate to sterilise and vaccinate them. Only those dogs who show aggressive behaviour can be taken to a clinic with the help of NGOs. We had floated the tender but the urban local bodies withheld the process. Now we have written to the animal welfare board to provide list of agencies,” said Vaishali Sharma, additional commissioner of MCG.
Experts said the MCG must step up to ensure population control and vaccination drives of stray animals. “The volunteers or feeders are left on their own to manage the observations, feeding, vaccinations, neuter surgeries, rescues, treatments for stray animals from their own pockets… We have been requesting RWAs to share the responsibility related to sending dogs for observations, etc, with AWBI recognised agencies and also start working on sensitisation programmes for animal-human conflicts,” added Chetna Joshi, Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) representative, Municipal Corporation Monitoring and Implementation Committee for ABC (Street Dogs), Haryana government.
